Michael Pollan and Alicia Silverstone on Oprah today!

So, today on Oprah, she is talking with Michael Pollan and Alicia Silverstone.

Michael Pollan is an award-winning journalist and considered a world-renowned food expert. He has authored 5 books and his book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals was used as a reference for the movie, Food, Inc. He was also interviewed throughout the film.


Alicia Silverstone recently wrote a vegan cookbook that I really love called The Kind Diet. It should be a really interesting show. Check it out! www.oprah.com.

The links to Food, Inc and Alicia's cookbook are on my blog if you are interested.

My favorite quote from Michael Pollan: "Imagine your great-grandmother...would she recognize this as food?" "If the answer is no, maybe you don't want to eat it."

My favorite idea of Michael Pollan:   Meatless Monday's

Eat your veggies,

Kelly

Sofia's Almost Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks of Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (room temperature)
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 organic eggs (room temperature)
1 12 oz. bag of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

PREHEAT oven to 375 F

Cream the 2 sticks of Earth Balance with the sugars in a stand mixer or with a hand-held mixer. Beat until light and fluffy. On low speed, add in one egg at a time. Once both eggs are added, add in the vanilla. Once blended, turn off mixer. In separate bowl, sift together the remainder of the dry ingredients.  Turn mixer back on low, and slowly add in the flour mixture, beat until just combined. Hand mix in the bag of vegan chips.

On a parchment lined cookie sheet, drop heaping tablespoons of dough. Bake for 9-11 minutes until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 26 large cookies. SO GOOD!

My Very First Post

Hi everyone! So, a few weeks ago, I decided to become a vegetarian easing into a vegan lifestyle. It has been something I have read about and looked into for years now. I had been slowly cutting back on beef and pork in my diet for the last year. There have been a series of events over this past year that have made eating animal products less and less appealing for me. The final straw was viewing the movie Food, Inc. in December. Wow.  I was blown away. Their catch line is "you will never look at dinner the same way" and I totally get why they say that because it is so true. I attached a link to their website and I encourage you to check it out on your own. It is very informative.

So, I am taking the plunge and I thought it would be fun to blog about it and share my thoughts, research and recipe tragedies and triumphs with all of you. I am really excited about this life-changing decision.

So, the only animal products that I will be using in my recipes will be organic eggs and organic dairy. By definition of a vegetarian that technically makes me a lacto-ovo-vegetarian. However, I am trying to limit eggs and dairy in my diet so many of my recipes will be vegan. I will also share about different interesting products that I find and like to cook with. I love to cook and am excited to experiment with new recipes and ingredients and adapt some of my old recipes too.

So, whether you are an omnivore, a vegetarian or a vegan or somewhere in-between I think you will enjoy the recipes, thoughts and facts that I share. I encourage all you omnivores out there to try these recipes out and consider eliminating meat and dairy from your diet one or a few days a week - its good for your health, good for the planet and good for all the chickens, pigs and cows everywhere!

Kelly